3D Printing Industry – How Big Is It? Where is the 3D Printing Industry Going?

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3D Printing Industry – How Big Is It? Where is the 3D Printing Industry Going?

FORT COLLINS, COLORADO, USA, August 19, 2014—Wohlers Associates, Inc. expects worldwide revenues from the additive manufacturing and 3D printing industry to reach $12.8 billion by 2018. According to Wohlers Report 2014, the company’s annual publication on the subject, the industry grew to an estimated $3.07 billion in 2013. By 2020, Wohlers Associates forecasts revenues from all products and services in the industry to exceed $21 billion.

Wohlers Associates believes strong growth in the industry will be fueled partly by sales of under $5,000 “personal” 3D printers. An even bigger factor will be the expanded use of the technology for the production of parts, especially in metal, that go into final products. “The industry is transitioning from a prototyping past to a production future,” said Tim Caffrey, senior consultant at Wohlers Associates and a principal author of the report. “Opportunities for AM in production applications are orders of magnitude greater than for modeling and prototyping. The money is in manufacturing, not prototyping.” There will also be a new breed of best selling 3d printers.